The Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch: Time, Place, Reason

The article discusses various opinions on the dating, localization and causes of the martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch (Ignatius the God-Bearer). The author believes that the most acceptable point of view in the current state of the issue is the one of the French researcher Etienne Decrept. The starting point of persecution of the Christians of Antioch under Trajan was the devastating earthquake of December 13, 115 AD. The surviving residents of the city considered the wrath of the gods to be the cause of the disaster due to the reprehensible behavior of Christians who violated the pax deorum. To stop the unrest that had begun, the emperor, whose headquarters were then in Antioch, ordered demonstrative executions of the “perpetrators”. The head of the Church of Antioch, Bishop Ignatius, probably voluntarily came to Trajan, trying to stop the repression against Christians. However, the result was the death sentence of the "head of the atheists", for which the bishop of Antioch was sent to Rome, where on December 20, 116, the martyr died.